DEATH ON THE MEDITERRANEAN

The summuer months are some of the busiest months on the Mediterranean. Did you go for a charter to the Côtes d'Azur this summer? Greece? Malta? Mallorca? While you where splashing your feet in the waves of a sunlit ocean, a quite different story went on beyond your horizon.

THE LIST

Since 2007, UNITED Against Racism have been compiling a list of deaths related to the European immigration politics: Deaths by refugees on their way to Europe, deaths by refugees and asylum seekers while in European custody, and deaths by people after repatriation. The List is compiled using open sources and includes stories of boats full of dead and dying, drifting around on the Mediterranean - one of the busiest waters in the world for weeks without alerting attention.
But it also includes stories of people drowned after vessels overloaded with refugees have been rammed by european coast guard, of people dying from ill treatment while in the custody of european authorities, murders of refugees or detainees on the basis of their ethnic origin and asylum seekers committing suicide rather than to be returned to their country of origin or a country of transit. The List contains countless numbers of people, including men, women, children and infants, washed up on European shores - with no name, identity and with no story. Some of these people would undoubtedly - had they survived and been granted asylum status - been considered European Citizens by know, with the right to vote and with the right to claim their rights from their representatives in the European Parliament.

They were denied that right.

MORE CAN BE DONE

Other than tightening the border watch, and paying off non-european governments to buffer emmigrants on African soil, efforts to change European immigration politics are slow, and in the meantime, the deaths continue. Much of the burden falls on the countries on the border of the European Union. However, the politics causing this ongoing tragedy, did not emerge in a few isolated counties. It emerged from a beckering over resources between Europen countries - on the border or far from it, in an attempt not to be left carrying the can. This attitude has had several undesired consequences - the neglect of immigrants human rights being only one. Consequences which may be excused as having been unintended and unforseen, but never unseen.

THE KNOCKING PROJECT

Whatever difficulties and cruelties that led these people to leave their homes, they were met with even harsher treatment by those they hoped would save them. Do we, in the comfort of our secure Fortress Europe, hold any responsibility for their fate? From 2013, Knocking on Fortress Europe has launched an email campaign directed towards those responsible for creating the common political standpoint of the European Union - the 751 members of the European parliament.

What if the dead from the borders of Europe could speak up, and each one in person tell their story to those who could have been their democratically elected leaders? By replacing the armada of poorly constructed rescue vessels with an armada of electronic ones, we want to make sure the voices reaches where they intended to arrive - the heart of Europe. Will this be possible, or will our armada eventually be transferred to the spam folder, just as their real counterparts ended up in nameless graves - the spam folders of the heavily fortified Server Europe?

WE NEED YOUR HELP
We are going to need as many hands as possible to help send the mails from the refugees. You can lend a hand by spending a few minutes sending a emails! Read more under
The knocking, and announce your interest to participate to us.

JOIN US!

If you are interested in participating in the knocking, it is simple! Simply send a mail to your elected representative or parliament member.

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED
We need help to extend access to data from The List. If you would like to help, send a mail to us, or check out the code on Github - WE NEED ALL THE HANDS WE CAN GET!